From: Natasha Vita-More (natasha@natasha.cc)
Date: Mon Jul 07 2003 - 15:50:35 MDT
I'm not on the wta-talk list, so you can forward this if you like:
At 01:58 PM 7/7/03 -0400, Devon White wrote:
> >Transhumanism and extropianism, to the average person, seem pretty
> >weird. So long as that's the case, the media is going to cover them
> >as oddities. So I don't think you can make major media
> >transhumanism-friendly. You'd be better off trying to make
> >transhumanism / extropianism more media-friendly.
First, let's take the "ism" off of extropy.
>I agree entirely. There's a lot of vocabulary and concepts that people
>need to understand in order to grok the benefits that transhuman and
>extropic thinking bring. In order to do that i think the benefits need to
>be trumpeted first. There needs to be some PR for intelligence. Then the
>interest in learning the facts will follow.
>
>To this end, i already have some media interests that are reaching a
>fairly wide audience and have a multi-media network that is launching
>nationally within the next two months.
>
>All of these channels are based on building towards a transhuman friendly
>future. So, this list adn transhumanism in general has at least channel
>that is only 1 degree of separation from reaching a new, bigger and more
>"mainstream" audience.
>
>All that needs to happen in order to begin broadcasting transhuman ideas
>is for you to submit them. I can get them in print in a newspaper (soon to
>be newspapers) and online (soon to be in print) with a magazine.
>Additionally there will be other mediums available in the near future.
>
>The point is: We want to promote the ideas that are being discussed on
>this list. We want to promote the thinkers that are putting this
>information out.
>
> >How would you do that?
> >
> >1) Get rid of jargony, science-fictiony words like "transhuman",
> >"extropy", "singularity", and so on.
Yes, "transhuman" is science-fictiony, but "extropy" is not. Extropy is
more scientific sounding (due in part to "entropy") and as a philosophy, is
a pretty darn good word.
> >2) Increase focus on short-term issues, research goals, and
> >possibilities.
Agreed.
> >3) Avoid making extreme, alarming, or incomprehensible pronouncements
> >on the future.
Agreed.
> >4) Recruit respected, high-profile scientists to the organizations (or
> >at least their periphery)
Extropy Institute has been doing this for years, and we do need to add more.
> >5) Align yourself with mainstream movements and organizations like the
> >reproductive rights movement, patient organizations lobbying for stem
> >cell research, and more mainstream think tanks.
Agreed.
Natasha
Natasha Vita-More
http://www.natasha.cc
----------
President, Extropy Institute
http://www.extropy.org
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